Being Teddy Lupin
by The fishes
Summary: Next Gen. Revolves around the life of Teddy Lupin and his relationship with Harry, Draco and the rest of the family. Starts from Teddy's first year at Hogwarts. It is a by- product of Welcome Home Harry, When Draco met Teddy and Dragon Pox. I solemnly swear that the story is good.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The story really and truly belongs to me. Some of the characters belong to me too but the Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **1** **st** **September 2009**

Teddy watched his family and friends fly by as the train gained speed. His heart fluttered in his chest. He was excited of course, but he was beyond nervous too. So far, the only children of his age were the kids at his muggle school. His grandmother had insisted that Teddy go to a muggle school to be in touch with a part of his heritage. He missed Adam Callaghan, his best friend from St. Andrew's. Adam was to join some prestigious school in Scotland on the same day that Teddy was bound for Hogwarts. He wished Adam was here with him. Apart from Adam, his other best friend was Victoire and she wouldn't join him for another year. Sighing to himself, Teddy picked up his trunk and dragged it to the nearest compartment which was full. He had to drag his carriage till the end of the train before he found an almost empty compartment. Teddy thanked his stars, the train was crazy, and people kept running up and down to greeting each other. He was lucky he wasn't trampled over.

He opened the gate, looking back as he dragged his trunk in, "Hi! May I please sit here, everywhere-" Teddy turned to face the boys in the cabin and stopped short at the boy sitting right in front of him. Sitting in front of him in all his 11 year old glory was his best friend Adam Callaghan. "Adam!"

"Teddy!"

"Adam!" Teddy said with a laugh as his friend leapt from his seat to hug him.

"Teddy! You are a wizard too?"

"Of course, I am. But you too?"

"I didn't even know- here let me help you with your trunk." Adam said, grabbing hold of Teddy's trunk and hoisting it up, chatting all the way. "All these weird things used to happen around me. Remember, how mean the other kids were to me before you came along. Wow! Professor Longbottom came to explain things to us. I was amazed but he asked me to not tell anyone about it so I didn't say anything to you."

Teddy laughed. "I know, my entire family is full of witches and wizards but I was asked to not talk about it with anyone."

"But it's amazing, great even. We are going to Hogwarts together!"

"Yeah. I will have to write to dad about it. This is amazing. I was worried I would have to make new friends all over."

"As if that would have been a problem for you." Adam said with an excited jittery laugh. The other two boys stared amusedly at the two friends. One of them coughed without even bothering to be discreet. The two friends suddenly looked around and realized that they were around two other people. Teddy looked at the boys with interest. They were identical; mirror images of each other, even their eyes were the same charcoal black and crinkled with mischief as they grinned at the two friends.

"Oh right! Teddy, this is- Err.. you are Ashwini right?" Adam asked to the boy on his right. The boy grinned devilishly and shrugged.

"Oh c'mon!" Adam whined, "You guys are mirror images. It would take me sometime."

"Well, come on Arjun." The boy on Teddy's left said to the boy that Adam was talking to. "Let's help them out."

"Aww man! I was having fun." Arjun whined. His brother gave him a stern look and Arjun nodded mutely. The other one smirked, satisfied with himself and turned to Teddy and Adam.

"Hi! I am Ashwini Srivastava." He said extending his hand to Teddy. "I am wearing the red t-shirt."

"Teddy Lupin." Teddy said with a grin.

"Hi, I am Arjun Srivastava. I am the one in the green t-shirt." Said the other boy grumpily waving from his seat, Teddy grinned at him as he took his seat next to Ashwini and Adam settled down next to Arjun.

"So, Ted." Adam started. "You come from a family of witches and wizards, tell us about Hogwarts. Do you know a lot of people at Hogwarts?"

"Your entire family is magical?" Arjun asked with interest.

"Yes." Teddy answered grinning.

"Cool!" The two boys said together.

"Look, but honestly, I don't know much about Hogwarts apart from the houses and the subjects that we would take." Teddy said, "My family insisted that I discover the castle on my own. I have never been to Hogwarts."

The boys nodded. "So, what does your dad do in the magical world?" Ashwini asked.

"Oh! He is an Auror. Sort of like the wizard police, he catches the bad guys."

"There are bad wizards?" Arjun asked.

"Yes. Dad says becoming dark is more of a personal choice."

The boys nodded. "So do you have a wizard court and prison?" Adam asked.

"Yes. The wizard court is called Wizengamot and the prison is called Azkaban."

"I bet there are dragons protecting the walls of Azkaban." Ashwini said with a laugh.

Teddy grinned. "No, it's an island prison. Most parts are guarded by the Aurors but some special cells are guided by these creatures called the Dementors. I came across one when I was a kid and I had gone to visit dad in his office. They were taking away a mad murderer, and I sort of wandered near one. I felt like I would never be happy again." Teddy said making a face. "And I wasn't even near them, I was behind this partition."

The boys looked at Teddy, quite stunned. Adam more so because in the 5 years that he had known Teddy, he had never ever seen Teddy sad; Teddy was always a cheerful person.

"So, what are these Dementy-thingies?" Adam asked.

"Dementors." Teddy said with a laugh. "They are big, cloaked creatures. I don't really know how they look. My dad described them to me after the incident. But they suck all the happiness out of a person. They make people go mad. He is quite against them, so is Uncle Kingsley. I mean Minister Shacklebolt, he introduced an act to remove the Dementors from Azkaban but most of the wizengamot, which is really made of old pure blood families that were neutral during the war shot his plan to completely remove them down. So, they stay but only for the high security prisoners. People who have done really bad things, like use an unforgivable on another."

"Wow" Ashwini said as Arjun whistled and Adam nodded his agreement.

"There was a war?" Arjun asked after a moment of silence.

Teddy's heart hammered, he really should think about the things he says. He promised Harry that he would not tell anyone about it till it was taught in their history class. Most children, who did not have families directly involved with the war, knew nothing much about it. The history class would only touch upon the war, not really going into the details of how horrible that time period was. Harry and Draco had told Teddy everything, before Teddy started school. He was the son of two war heroes and the Godson of the saviour himself along with being the cousin of a Death Eater. He was given this knowledge, so that he could be ready for the attention both positive and negative. Teddy did not even notice that the other three boys were staring at him with mixed expressions of fear and fascination.

"Teddy!" Adam shouted suddenly, breaking Teddy's chain of thoughts. "Your hair!"Adam said pointing a shaky finger at his hair.

"Forget the hair dude, look at your eyes!" Arjun said looking at Teddy with open fascination.

Teddy looked at his reflection in the window. His hair was bright red, as it always was when he was stressed and his eyes were hazel instead of muddy brown. He kicked himself mentally; he had promised Draco that he would not keep his hair in their normal turquoise colour or his eyes to their normal brown for the first month of Hogwarts. This was a safety precaution; they had to ensure that Teddy would not be bullied for his special gift, Draco was paranoid about Teddy's safety and he had no faith in insecure teenagers.

"It's okay." Teddy said with a sigh, closing his eyes and concentrating on getting the agreed upon sandy brown hair and brown eyes. "I am a Metamorphmagus. But you can't tell anyone about it. Please." The three boys stared at him.

"You are a what?" Ashwini asked quite unsure of himself.

"Metamorphmagus. I can change my look at will. Here look." And as the three boys watched in amazement, Teddy changed into an exact replica of Adam with matching dirty blond hair and brown eyes.

"That is so weird!" Adam exclaimed with a grin. The other two boys nodded mutely. Teddy grinned changing back to his agreed upon state. "But please, you have to promise, you will not tell anyone about it." The three boys nodded.

"So, are all wizarding children, Meta- whatever it is that you are?" Adam asked.

"Not all. Metamorphmagi are rare. My mom was one, so I am one. I haven't heard of other Metamorphmagus. I guess it is genetic. I was born this way." Teddy said with a shrug.

"This is so cool!"

"Wicked!"

"You could totally prank someone. Freak them out completely."

"Yeah my mom used to morph into Professor McGonagall- she is the headmistress now. Once she morphed into Dumbledore- he was the headmaster then and started chatting up with another student from her house and the real Dumbledore came along and sat on the other side of the student and started chatting just as nicely with him, the poor guy was freaked out."

"Brilliant!" The three boys said together. Teddy laughed. They spent the entire train journey chatting up and getting to know each other. Arjun and Ashwini were of Indian origin, their grandfather had moved to England to become a Professor at Oxford. Their father was an Orthopaedic surgeon while their mother was a gynaecologist, their family was beyond shocked when Professor Longbottom came along and told them about Ashwini and Arjun's special powers. Ashwini and Arjun had a younger sister Ankita, who would be joining them at Hogwarts in two years.

Adam's father was a lawyer. He came from a family of successful businessmen; his mother was handling the family business while his father pursued his passion as a human rights lawyer. Adam like Teddy was an only child but unlike Teddy who had a large family to love him, Adam only had his father as a friend and guide. His mother loved him and they tried to spend as much time together as they could but more often than not she was away for business. Adam's best friend was his dog Jerry.

When the food trolley came along Teddy introduced the boys to chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's every flavour beans among other things. The boys were excited about their first chocolate frog card collection. While Adam got Merlin ("Woah! He actually existed!" Adam exclaimed.), Ashwini got Hermione Granger and Arjun got Neville Longbottom ("Hey! That's Professor Longbottom! Blimey! He was a badass.").

When the train stopped, Teddy jumped on the platform and led his friends to Hagrid. He promptly jumped into Hagrid's arms, Hagrid laughed and mussed Teddy's hair lovingly before leading them to the boats. His friends were impressed. The boys all whopped in excitement as the boats lurched forward with a slight tap from Hagrid's wand. Teddy exchanged a quick wink with Hagrid, as he remembered the time when all the Weasleys, his dad, his mum, even Grandma took turns in teaching Hagrid Magic. Hagrid had passed his NEWTs two years ago and used his wand with great pride.

They were led into the Great Hall by Professor Longbottom after he gave them a short introduction to Hogwarts along with the names of the houses and the kind of behaviour expected from the students. As they walked into the Great Hall he heard gasps and awed "woahs" around him. Teddy had to admit, despite hearing about the Great Hall his life; he was overwhelmed when he actually saw it. Once the Sorting Ceremony started all of Teddy's concentration was focused around keeping his appearance intact. He watched Adam being sorted into Ravenclaw and applauded loudly, relaxing a bit. A part of him knew that Adam would be a Ravenclaw.

Teddy jumped when one of the Srivastava twins pushed him forward. He looked around to see that everyone was staring at him while Uncle Neville was standing with the Sorting hat in his hand. "Come now, Mr. Lupin. There is nothing to worry about." He said kindly. Teddy blushed, but walked to the stool with as much confidence as his shaky legs could muster. His vision of the hall was cut off as the hat was dropped on his head.

 _"_ _Hah!" Said a tiny voice in Teddy's head. "Nervous, are we? Don't lose your concentration there boy, I know where you belong. – HUFFLEPUFF"_

Teddy breathed a sigh of relief. He handed the hat to Professor Longbottom who winked at him as Teddy passed by him to join the Hufflepuff table. He got a few pats on the back while a sixth year girl pulled his cheeks for being "Oh! So cute!" Teddy looked over to the Ravenclaw table and grinned at Adam before going back to look at the sorting ceremony.

Ashwini was sorted into Gryffindor while Arjun joined Teddy at the Hufflepuff table. Once the feast was over, the first year Hufflepuffs were led back to their dormitories. Teddy grinned; his mother had already told him about the Hufflepuff common room password. Students had to play the drums in a set tune; the tune was changed each term for the common room door to open up. The Hufflepuff Common room was warm and cozy and green. There were round tables, squishy arm chairs, couches, rugs all in the Hufflepuff colours of canary yellow and black and the room contained potted plants of all sorts hanging from the ceiling, in different corners. Teddy and Arjun grinned at each other as they followed their prefect, Samuel O'Connor to the first year dormitory. Teddy found his trunk and bed and settled under the warm sheets, promising himself that he would send Moony to Uncle Draco, his Dad and grandma tomorrow morning with his letter.

 **AN: So, first chapter. Please read and review and let me know what you think of it. Please. Happy reading.**

 **Much love**

 **The fishes**


	2. Chapter 2

The next day however, Teddy was swarmed by owls as the morning post arrived.

"These owls are attacking us!" Arjun screamed trying to cover his head.

Teddy laughed. "Relax, I think these owls are from my family." The entire table was busy picking out their morning post however, most of the people his age were looking over at him with interest.

His owl Moony was carrying a letter from his Gran, Quaffle (named so by James) was carrying a letter from Harry, Fluffy (named so by Carina, who had taken an instant liking to the baby owl as it hatched from its egg) was carrying a letter from Draco, Pig was tweetering madly hopping around, carrying a letter from Uncle Ron- for an old owl he was still pretty crazy. Teddy laughed, nearly every Weasley had sent him a letter.

"You got a big family there Lupin." A dark haired boy said with a grin. "Trent Davies." He added stretching out his hand. Teddy shook his hand and introduced himself. Apart from Arjun and Trent, a boy called Michael O'Connor was their last dorm mate. He was Samuel's younger brother. There were three girls in Teddy's year too. Sarah Andrew, who was a half-blood, Samantha Collins a muggleborn and Penny Smith, niece of Zacharias Smith- to Teddy they looked like a pretty okay lot.

To Teddy and Adam's delight, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had their first class of the day together. Their potions master was Professor Blaise Zabini who had the gift of keeping the class quiet without even trying to but the thing with Professor Zabini was that you would want to hear and pay attention to everything he had to stay. For Teddy it was a different experience altogether, because he knew Blaise loved being noisy, his son Alex loved blasting or banging things and Blaise often complained that Alex's naptimes were uncomfortably quiet for him. However, he made potions sound easy and fun and Teddy who was already trained over the summer by Draco and Blaise had no difficulty in concocting a simple cure for boils with his partner Adam. They spent the last fifteen minutes of the class talking about their dorms and common rooms. At the end of the period Blaise requested Teddy to stay back.

"Well, Ted, I am glad that you ended up in my house. Although I am quite surprised that Draco didn't send you a howler."

Teddy laughed. "Aunt Tori probably threatened him." Blaise grinned. "Probably. Now if you have nothing better to do, come visit me on Saturday for tea. I would like to know about your first week at Hogwarts."

"Sure thing, Bla-err- Professor Zabini."

Their next class was Defence against the Dark Arts with Slytherins. Teddy ran in, worried he was late, he had just spotted Arjun, Trent and Michael and was making his way to them when two people blocked his path. "And here comes the freak." Said a thin boy with brown hair while his companion laughed; Teddy didn't even know why they were being mean to him.

"Excuse me." He said politely, mentally shrugging at the bullies. The other boy tripped Teddy and he went knocking into a desk. "Hey!" Teddy shouted, turning to glare at the boys, he had hurt his hand pretty bad and it was bleeding. "Why did you do that?" By now the entire class watching the three boys, Teddy's hand was throbbing so bad that his concentration slipped and his hair turned auburn, a sign of his distress. The entire class gasped as the two boys guffawed. "You are such a freak, Lupin." The first one said again.

"Leave him alone, Avery." A girl said with her hands on her hips, her blue eyes sparkling angrily.

"Oh come on, Flint. You have to agree wolfy here is a big time freak."

"He is a Metamorphmagus, you prat. Leave him-"

But Teddy's hair had already turned pitch black as his eyes. "What did you call me?" He asked angrily.

"Aww.. is the fweak angwy." The other boy said in a baby voice. "Will he ask daddy to come bite us? Oh wait-" And the boys started laughing again before yelling in surprise as both of them were knocked into the desks by an unknown force and Teddy had his wand out. Teddy's hair and eyes were going back to brown when he decided he would keep them their normal colour. "I don't need my dad to do anything, he taught me well." Teddy said smoothly before turning to face Flint.

She still had her hands on her hips and her eyes were narrowed as she surveyed him. "You really didn't need to do that." She said pompously, "But they needed it, they have been acting as world class prats since last night. Ashley Flint" She said with a grin and extended her hand to him. "Err… Teddy Lupin" Teddy said, he held up his bleeding his hand to show why he didn't shake her hand, the roots of his hair turning pink, she really was pretty.

"You should get your hand healed. Go to the hospital wing. I will tell Professor Thomas."

"No need. Miss Flint. I am already here." Dean Thomas said materialising next to Ashley who shrieked along with the entire class.

"The disillusionment charm, students. It was very helpful at some point. Still is." Professor Thomas said. "Now please take your seats. Avery, Bulstrode stand up straight, the jinx was not strong enough for you to keep complaining. I can't believe students from my house are behaving as such belligerent fools on the first day itself." Professor Thomas snapped. "And 20 points from Slytherin for indiscipline and bullying. You are lucky I am not handing out detentions just yet but I will be writing to your parents."

Teddy had quietly slunked to sit next to Trent, who patted his back understandingly. "Lupin." Teddy jumped. "Yes Professor."

"Your hand." Professor Thomas took Teddy's hand and healed it wordlessly as the non- magical children in class watched on fascinated.

"10 points from HufflePuff, Lupin and I will be informing Professor Zabini about it." Teddy hung his head in shame. First day of school and he had already lost his house 10 points. "I understand that you were provoked but you could have ignored them, instead of jinxing them." Teddy nodded.

"Hey, don't worry mate." Trent whispered to Teddy. "My dad swears to this day that your dad was the best DADA teacher they ever had." Teddy gave Trent a small smile but soon all his misery was forgotten as he listened to Professor Thomas talk about basic defensive spells, he maintained that his teacher taught them that mastering the basic spells could save lives. While the rest of the class listened on fascinated, Teddy smiled; his mum and Uncle George had told him all about Dumbledore's Army and who Professor Thomas' teacher was.

The rest of Teddy's day flew by with relative ease till he was pulled aside by Professor Zabini after dinner.

"I heard you got in trouble in Professor Thomas' class?"

Teddy hung his head. "Yes."

"Avery and Bulstrode, huh?"

Teddy nodded glumly.

"They are a bunch of misguided fools. Don't mind them. Their parents were living secure lives far away from England during the second war. They know nothing. We used to be the same. Just don't go picking fights with them. Okay?"

Teddy nodded.

"By the way what did they do to make you so mad? I have known you all your life, you rarely get angry enough to want to hurt someone."

Teddy looked up with tears in his eyes. "They made fun of Moony Da. About him being a werewolf."

"Oh, Teddy!" Blaise said, giving Teddy a quick hug. "Don't pay attention to such idiots, okay? Your dad was one of the best people I ever met. Almost like a father figure in my life. He helped me through a lot of difficult things and don't let anyone make you feel bad about his condition. You should be proud. Life was so unfair to him and yet, he was such a strong and kind man."

Teddy nodded, wiping his eyes and giving Blaise a small smile.

"Now, why don't you go reply the gazillion letters you received this morning? And I think you would need some chocolate to keep up your energy." Blaise said with a mischievous smile.

Teddy grinned and nodded.

"Alright, on your way to your common room, you would pass a portrait of a fruit bowl, just tickle the pear and that's how you get to the kitchens. Okay?"

"I can't believe you just told me how to get to the kitchens." Teddy said with a sly grin.

"You knew? How?"

"Uncle George. Uncles Padfoot, and Prongs; Moony Da, and Dora Mum too."

Blaise laughed. "Then get going, will you?"

"Yes Professor." Teddy said solemnly before turning and jogging away.

"Oh and Teddy?" Blaise called. "If anyone asks, I was reprimanded you so strictly that you were in tears. Okay?"

Teddy flashed him a grin and a thumbs up before turning a corner and disappearing away. The other first years were waiting for him in the common room, sitting at a round table in a corner when Teddy returned with his arms laden with chocolate chip muffins.

"Where did you get these from?" Arjun asked awed as Teddy dropped the muffins on the table.

"The kitchens." Teddy said with a shrug.

"Sweet." Sarah said as she grabbed a muffin, the others nodded their agreement as they dug in.

"Where is Michael?" Teddy asked, noticing that Michael was not with them.

"With his brother." Penny replied. "He was freaked out about Professor Zabini dragging you out after dinner."

"And I told him Professor Zabini was the most chilled out Professor at Hogwarts. No one has ever seen him get angry." Samuel O'Connor said as he approached the table, Michael in tow. He frowned when he saw the muffins on the table.

"Professor Zabini told you about the kitchens, didn't he?" He asked Teddy as the others watched on with interest.

Teddy gave a non-committal shrug.

"Sweet!" Samuel's friend Dean Clarke said coming over to the table. "So, who was it this year?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Trent asked.

"Well, every year naturally some or the other first year gets in trouble within the first week and Professor Zabini tells them the way to the kitchens, after 'reprimanding' them." Dean said, rolling his eyes. "So, who was it this year?"

The table stared at Teddy. "Nice. So, what did you do kid? Lose your way? Melted a cauldron because you weren't listening to him-"

"He jinxed two Slytherins who were bullying him in Professor Thomas' class." Arjun added helpfully.

Dean whistled. "Next time they do something like this, just ignore them. They are idiots and you don't want to get in trouble with Professor Zabini." Samuel said seriously. The table looked at him dubiously as Dean laughed.

"Come on Samuel! Just tell them the truth."

"Dean."

"Okay, here is the story kids, Professor Zabini is a marshmallow. He will really reprimand you if you cross a line but that rarely happens. Otherwise, he appears to look strict but he is a Teddy bear. I am serious. There is a reason no Hufflepuff crosses the line. You would hate to disappoint him." Dean said before turning to Samuel and saying, "And that's how you do it."

Samuel rolled his eyes. "Just don't do anything funny in front of Professor Boot; he is the transfiguration teacher. He threatened to turn Dean into a rat once. All the teachers are quite alright and fair. Just don't give them a chance to put you in detention. Okay?"

The kids nodded and went back to chatting among themselves about their first day and planning to start with homework together from the next day before heading to bed.

 **So another chapter done. Next up! snippets of letters from everyone. I plan to move through the early years pretty quickly. Yes, it could be that Teddy would date Ashley Flint for a while. I am not saying, just hinting at stuff.**

 **And to all those who asked me to write about things from Teddy's point. Hello! Here is a fic. Why don't I see any reviews or likes or follows?**

 **Anyway, Please do read and review. Happy Reading.**

 **Much love**

 **The fishes.**


	3. Chapter 3

Teddy stayed up in bed, with his letters littered around him. He decided he would have to finish writing back to them tonight itself or they would worry so he started with his grandmother's letter.

 _My dearest Teddy,_

 _I am so proud of you. Always have been proud of you, I hope you do write to me by the end of the week. I understand Hogwarts could make you terribly busy. I received a letter from Professor Zabini telling me you have joined his house for your stay in Hogwarts. Congratulations Teddy! I hope you like your house. Your mother is beyond excited. She sends her love and hopes that someday you would become a prefect so that she could ask you to set the password to one of those Weird Sister songs she loves. I hope you are making friends Teddy._

 _Write to me soon. The house feels terribly empty without you. Harry and Ginny have been gracious enough to invite me to their home to stay but you know, I can't leave this house. This is where your grandfather and I started our lives together; it has his memories, your mother's memories, your childhood. I think I should go back to healing again. I am not really old, and it will give me something to do. Although your, Great Aunt Narcissa thinks it's time for us to enjoy our lives and go travelling all over the globe. What do you think? I guess I could do both too._

 _Just write to me, love and soon. I am dying to hear about your friends and your first week at school and the subjects and teachers you like._

 _Please take care of yourself Teddy, wake up on time, eat on time, study hard, and have fun._

 _Much love,_

 _Gran._

Teddy smiled at the letter. It was clear his Gran was trying to hide how much she missed him, he missed her too. She was a strict disciplinarian true, but she also was a wicked prankster. It was kind of weird to have her write to him, it was nice too. He kept aside her letter and picked up a letter randomly, deciding to read through all the letters before replying to them. The letter he opened now was a long one with 4 different sets of handwriting.

 _Ted,_

 _I hope you got there fine. We were all so excited about your first day that all of us ended up staying at the Manor, your Gran too. Did you know the adults had put bets on your house? Well Aunt Ginny, Uncle Harry, Aunt Dora, Your Gran and my Gran they won because they were betting on HufflePuff and Sirius just kept whining that HufflePuffs were human sized marshmallows and that they had done better at bringing you up. That was till your mum smacked him. Anyway, Congrats; I hope you make friends (I am still your best friend). I have to go because Dom wants to write to you too. See you on Christmas._

 _Vic_

 _Teddy!_

 _Congratulations! I hope you have a great time. Please write back and tell me all about Hogwarts. Oh! Now Vic remembers, she wants you to write to her and tell her all about Hogwarts too. Just write back soon Okay?_

 _Dom_

 **Ted!**

 **Congrats, at least you don't have to worry about your sorting now. I hope you are liking school. Please tell me about the library, pretty please. (Dom and Vic are rolling their eyes because I want to know about the Library. Don't listen to them; just tell me about the library.)**

 **Molly**

 ** _Teddy,_**

 ** _As usual these prats have left the over excited kids to me. James, Fred, Roxy Louise, and Rose have been after our lives to let them write to you but honestly, they don't really know that many words so I promised them that I will write down their messages for you before I give you any of my own. (Al is still sulking because you left him but write a letter to him, you know he would cheer up once he realizes that you haven't really forgotten him. Lily and Hugo, Lily especially cried up a storm for ten minutes, we were able to get them ice creams by then so they shut up and forgot all about you, but still write to them, not that they understand anything but just to be fair.)_**

 ** _Congratulations! (What do they know, they can't read and I am giving in my message before theirs.) Please tell me you found your way to the kitchens. You know Uncle George would be so disappointed if you don't break any rules in the first week. Okay now James is threatening to start bawling so I am writing his message for you._**

 ** _*Teddy! Uncle Sirius is acting funny because you got Hufflepuff. Dad and everyone else is just happy, we will have a party here for it. I miss you already, when will you come back?_** ** _Love, James_**

 ** _*Teddy! Aww man! I was hoping you would be in Gryffindor; you could have helped us prank someone. Now we would have to prank you and I hate being pranked by you. Come back soon, it is weird without you._** ** _Fred_**

 ** _*Don't listen to Fred, he is being a prat. He has been whining about hating to be pranked by you all evening but he is quite set about pranking the other houses as soon as we reach there. Anyway, its great you got Hufflepuff. And I am dying to hear about Hogwarts, write back soon._** ** _Love, Roxy_**

 ** _*Teddy, Fred is right, it would suck to prank you because then you would prank us but Uncle George said it would be great for everyone else. So, I guess it would be okay, write back soon._** ** _Louise_**

 ** _*Dear Teddy, We miss you a lot. Al is not talking to anyone because you left, I am trying to talk to him. Don't be mad because he isn't sending a message. We miss you, come back soon._** ** _Love, Rose_**

 ** _So, there you go! Messages from everyone! Okay, I have to go. It's bed time and we have to get the nutters in bed and Al is being difficult. God! Who knew Al could be so stubborn. Okay, Bye._**

 ** _Write back soon, enjoy!_**

 ** _Love_**

 ** _Lucy_**

Teddy smiled; he knew he wouldn't be able to send any letters before the weekend. He had to write to so many people! Suddenly, he started missing them too. He could only imagine the chaos in the children's room. The room was not really a room but a huge dormitory; it was near the kitchens, in the guest wing of the Manor. His dad had combined all the bedrooms in the corridor to create a dormitory and a play room, there were 13 beds in the dormitory, and the sheets were handpicked by the children themselves. The children used it during the once in a month Weasley- Potter- Lupin family weekend. The kids loved sleeping in the same room. Not that they slept much, they played all sorts of games in there. The play room was linked to the dormitory and it was big enough for the 13 of them (thought Lily and Hugo did not really join them for now). It did not have as many games as the original play room in the family wing but the children had just as much fun. Teddy's stomach sank, he could imagine all of them falling over each other to write to him. He sighed before picking up another letter.

 _Really Kid?_

Teddy snickered before reading on; he knew who this letter belonged to.

 _Hufflepuff? Really? I taught you so much and you just had to go pick Hufflepuff, they are human sized Marshmallows. Don't you be smart with me. I know you are sharp enough to be a Ravenclaw. Salazar Slytherin in heaven! Blaise floo called to let me know that you are in his house. Just didn't want to miss the opportunity to rub it in my face. We had a bet, he told me this summer that you would most likely end up in his house and I said you wouldn't and he won. Now I have to babysit his children, specifically that demon child (don't tell him that!) Alex; during the first Hogsmeade weekend._

 _That being said, I am proud of you. Your mum was a Hufflepuff too and I haven't met her personally but from what I do know of her, she seems pretty great. You are a great kid yourself, so Congratulations, you big human sized marshmallow. Write back and tell us about your first week at Hogwarts. Your Aunt Tori is trying to get Scor to bed, he is pretty bummed out about you leaving. Flying didn't cheer him up either, so we guess he needs to sleep it out, but she wants me to tell you that she is really proud of you and she has also asked me to congratulate you on her behalf. Also, she did warn me to not give you grief about Hufflepuff and I haven't (I am being so nice, I don't know why people say I could be mean!). Now, enjoy your stay at Hogwarts, don't get into too much trouble. No, wait, correction: Don't get caught! And don't tell anyone I told you that._

 _Write back soon. We miss you kid. See you for Christmas and if you feel like you are missing some home cooked food all you have to do is write okay?_

 _Love you kid,_

 _Draco_

 _Dearest Teddy,_

 _Congratulations on making it to Hufflepuff. Enjoy your stay at Hogwarts and don't listen to anything George, Sirius, James or Remus say. Everybody here is missing you already. Hope you have a great term. See you on Christmas._

 _Much love_

 _Grandma and Grandad_

 _P.S.: I will send you some home cooked fudge with the next owl, I promise. – Grandma Molly_

 _Dear Ted,_

 _Congratulations! We are very proud of you. Victoire, Dominique and Louise are very excited about Hogwarts now. Hope you have a great term. Stay out of trouble better still don't get caught. See you on Christmas._

 _Love_

 _Bill and Fleur_

 _P.S.- I know it is pretty freaky when you are the first kid in your family to go to Hogwarts because you don't really know anyone there but I think a couple of long distance cousins are also sending their kids to Hogwarts this year. Just look out for them. I know it is pretty weird, but hey, at least you would know someone by association. If you need any help regarding how to write a letter to Al to help cheer him up or how to write letters to your younger siblings who need you but cannot really talk to you, you could always come talk to me. I know being the eldest sucks but it has its perks too. Enjoy your term.- Uncle Bill._

 _P.P.S.- We might see you in December, Fleur and I are supposed to teach these special classes to Seventh Years who wish to pursue their careers as curse breakers._

 _Dear Theodore Lupin,_

 _Congratulations! I believe you would imbibe the many virtues of the Hufflepuff house in your everyday life and be just as hardworking and patient as they are famed to be. Respect your elders and do listen to the prefects and Heads, they do know a thing or two that could benefit you. Hope you have a good term._

 _Sincerely_

 _Percy Weasley_

 _P.S.: Your aunt Audrey wishes for me to congratulate you on her behalf as she had to go check up on the children who are creating quite a ruckus in your absence._

 _Little Moony,_

 _Congratulations! Though I lost a bet, I am glad you got Hufflepuff, your mum was an ace prankster and its time the lesser humans know about the great pranking legends. I will be sending you a large package of prank material through the next mail. Use them well, and get caught a little, not too often, but just a little. People should know of your greatness. And don't tell your aunt Angie that I sent you prank stuff, Thank Merlin, the other kids have been creating such a ruckus that she had to go with your aunt Audrey to threaten them with dire consequences if they weren't in bed in the next 10 minutes._

 _Remind old Minnie that the next generation is here._

 _Love_

 _George_

 _P.S.- Please do tell me that you managed some mischief in the first week itself. Even if you didn't it is okay, you have the entire term ahead of you. So, no pressure, let the prank come to you, don't run after it._

 _Teddy,_

 _Your mum was one of my best friends in school and I know for a fact that she would have been incredibly proud and honoured that you made it to Hufflepuff. Needless to say we are all proud of you. The kids are so excited, they just can't settle down. I know the feeling. When Bill left, I felt restless because suddenly my best friend was not there and then I was so mad at him for leaving but these kids have taken it pretty well apart from Al but he would come around I guess. Don't worry about them too much, they would soon be joining you and you would be responsible for them till you leave. Bill always used to complain that it sucked to be the eldest but you seem to handle it pretty well. I have never seen you have any trouble in getting the kids to keep the volume at a minimum or sleep. Just saying buddy, they need you here. (Nah! I am just kidding.)_

 _Just know that we are all here. If you want to talk about anything at all just write to us. Okay?_

 _You know you have been a special child to me because of how close your mum and I were and that wouldn't change just because you grew up. If you feel you need someone to listen to you, I am all ears._

 _Best_

 _Charlie_

 _Dear Teddy,_

 _Congratulations, sweetheart! I know you must be excited about Hufflepuff. I am sure your Uncle Ron would be excited about the news too, but he is so far away that we have decided to wait till he comes back before we tell him about it. He really wishes he was there to see you off though; you have been a special child to all of us._

 _I still remember the day Remus barged in to tell us about your birth. We had not had a good year so far, but seeing your father so happy and the fact that Harry was suddenly a Godfather, it was thrilling. Like a ray of hope in an increasingly dark skyline. You have grown so much since then. All these children look up to you. You have your mother's disposition and your father's kindness and I know they are incredibly proud of the fine person that you have become and would grow up to be._

 _Have a great term Teddy. Break a few rules here and there, try not to get caught but if you do, don't worry too much about it and don't tell anyone I told you that. I hope you have a great term._

 _Write to me about your first week, I would like to know all about it. If you go meet Hagrid during the weekend, avoid the rock cakes._

 _Lots of Love_

 _Hermione_

 _Dearest Teddy,_

 _Congratulations! Blaise just fire called and informed us of your sorting. I am really proud of you; I hear your mother was a Hufflepuff too. It is rather unfortunate, that I wasted a lot of time and wasn't able to get to know her but if I go by how incredibly kind and generous you are, I would say she must have been a lovely young woman._

 _Teddy, you have been a gift to us, especially Draco. I have watched you grow up from the baby that strived to make everyone happy to a fine young man who believes in judging people based on their actions rather than status. I know you would meet with judgment both good and bad at school. Unfortunately, children don't know any better but never lose sight of who you are because of them. Never stop being happy and making others around you happy. Don't let the world change you, I made that mistake and I lost much due to it. Be your own person Teddy, some might resent you for it but those who love and appreciate you for it; will do so genuinely._

 _Have a great term ahead. Please do write back during the weekend, I would love to know about your first week of school, classes and new friends. Take good care of yourself. I will see you during your Christmas holidays._

 _Love_

 _Great Aunt Cissy_

Teddy picked up the last letter; he had deliberately saved this letter for the last. He sighed as he opened the letter, he was missing home.

 _Teddy Bear,_

 _See, I told you; you had nothing to worry about. Congratulations! We just got the letter from Professor Zabini, telling us that you have been sorted into Hufflepuff. Your Moony Da is just so proud of you and so is your mum. The house feels empty without you bear, despite the fact that it is full of people and the kids refuse to be disciplined. There is so much of noise around us but it still feels incomplete because somehow, we realize that you won't be here till December, maybe that's why the kids don't want to calm down either. Everyone misses you terribly. Your old man, is suffering from the empty nest syndrome, bear._

 _When did you grow up so much? It was only yesterday that you were a black haired baby, sucking his fist, looking at me expectantly to pick him up and now here you are in all your turquoise hair glory, packing off to school. Where did these 11 years go?_

 ** _Don't hog the parchment Harry, pass it on, I want to write to him too._**

 _What the hell Gin, you just charmed the message on my letter and I was getting emotional here._

 ** _Not impressed. I want to write to Teddy too, so pass on the parchment._**

 _No._

 ** _What did you just say?_**

 _For the love of Merlin, I am the Man- who- won._

 ** _And I was the star chaser of the Holyhead Harpies, your point being?_**

Teddy was pretty sure that his mum and dad must have had a staring match right about now which would be eventually won by his mum.

 ** _Dear Teddy,_**

 ** _Congratulations, baby boy! I know, I know you are a big guy now but you would always be my baby. I was there when you were born. In a lot of ways you are my first child and now I understand why my mum cribbed about us growing up too fast. If I had it my way, I would have you home schooled. But it would not have been fair on you. Write back soon. I want to know all about your first week, your classes, friends, everything. I know James and Al would want to know all about it too, even when Al is sulking right now and pretending that he doesn't really care, I can bet that he would remember all the details of your letters. Don't worry about him; he will cheer up soon enough. I used to be incredibly upset at being left behind too. It's a younger sibling thing. We are humungous prats._**

 ** _Don't get in trouble; I am so glad you did not take after either of your dads or Uncle George. Don't do anything we wouldn't do either, that does not leave much really. Just go enjoy your term; we will see you for Christmas._**

 ** _Missing you so much._**

 ** _Lots of love_**

 ** _Mum_**

 ** _There you go Harry, now you can go back to propounding the theory of relativity for an 11 year old._**

 _Phew! So, I guess your mum pretty much said everything that I wanted to say to you. I won't ask you to not do anything I wouldn't do because that would really not be good advice. Just use your head and don't go looking for trouble. Have fun. Your time at Hogwarts would be your best years._

 _And here is a secret; I will see you in November. I have been teaching a specialized Defence Against the Dark Arts course to seventh years who wish to become Aurors or Unspeakables. I have been teaching this course ever since specialized magical training was introduced in the Hogwarts Curriculum. I will be coming to Hogwarts regularly from December to February on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So, I would see you soon enough._

 _Can't wait to see you._

 _Love_

 _Dad_

Teddy groaned, not that he didn't want to see his dad, but his dad was bloody famous. Teddy didn't mind popularity either but it was still weird to prank someone or get in trouble especially when your father was a teacher in your school. He settled in his pillow after stuffing the letters under it, he couldn't really do anything about it, so he might as well just sleep it off.

 **AN: Another chapter done. You know what to do. Please do read and review.**

 **Much love,**

 **The fishes.**


	4. Chapter 4

Time flew by for Teddy and before he knew it, he had already spent more than two months in the castle. It was in the middle of November that Teddy walked in to an unusually quiet great hall for breakfast. He exchanged a quizzical glance with Arjun before taking a seat next to Sarah who was trying to school her, already neatly piled hair.

"What's up with everyone?" Teddy asked, looking at all his friends. "I have never seen the hall so quiet."

"Harry Potter is here, he is sitting with Professors Longbottom and Thomas on the high table." Trent whispered, looking completely awed as he looked at the hero of the masses on the high table. Teddy followed his lead and looked at the high table to find his dad having a heated discussion with Professor Thomas and Teddy was pretty sure it was about their Quidditch teams. It was at that moment, that Harry looked up and flashed a smile towards his Godson before going back to the discussion.

Trent blushed. "Did he just- did he just- smile at me?" He stuttered.

Teddy stifled a laugh. "I guess so." He said with a broad grin, watching his Godfather. A part of him itched to go hug his dad and tell him he was glad to see him. But another part of him wanted to enjoy the anonymity of being Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks' orphan child for a few more minutes; before everyone found out that he was raised by Harry Potter.

However, his secret was about to get out in the most unimaginable way possible. Adam approached the table with his dorm mate Jim Shacklebolt in tow. Jim's twin Sarah Shacklebolt was a Gryffindor. Sarah and Jim were the children of the Minister for Magic. Teddy groaned, Adam would recognize Harry Potter as being Teddy's father. Harry had insisted on dropping Teddy off to school on occasions.

"Hey Teddy!" Adam exclaimed excitedly. "Jim said that your dad is famous; that he defeated some super evil dark lord a lot of years ago."

The entire table turned to stare at Teddy as Jim looked at him guiltily. "You know Harry Potter?" Trent asked.

"Err… Yeah. He is-"

"He is Teddy's dad!" Adam exclaimed.

"No, Teddy's dad was Remus Lupin. He died in the war; we saw his name on the memorial wall last week." Samantha corrected Adam.

"I am telling you, that man on the table is Teddy's dad." Adam argued, "I have met him loads of times. He used to come to drop Teddy to school. I have even met him at Teddy's home. Teddy! Tell them!"

"But that can't be!" Penny exclaimed. "Teddy is a Lupin, not a Potter."

"Maybe we should leave it be. So, Teddy knows Mister Potter, it's not a big deal." Jim said quietly, Teddy sent him a grateful smile. He knew that only Jim understood how uncomfortable being famous for having famous parents was.

"But Jim! He knows Harry-freaking-Potter!" Trent exclaimed. "Is he really your dad?"

"GUYS!" Teddy said loudly, and it sounded like a trumpet call in a hushed up Great Hall. Every eye turned to look at Teddy, but then zoomed back to Harry Potter when they realized that it was just a bunch of pesky first years.

"Yes. Adam is right." Teddy said in a low voice. "He is my dad. Not dad-dad, he is my Godfather but I have called him dad since forever."

"Wow!" Trent and Penny said together. "You are Harry Potter's Godson!" Trent added looking awed.

"Okay." Arjun interjected, "Can someone please tell the muggleborns here, why Teddy's dad is such a big deal?"

"Oh right!" Jim said, "You wouldn't know, we haven't covered it in history yet."

"Okay!" Jim added, "Remember the war memorial we saw last week?" The muggleborns nodded.

"Well, there was this really dark wizard that lived a long time ago. His name was Voldemort, but he was so powerful and evil that everyone feared to take his name and thus they called him 'you-know-who' or 'he-who-must-not-be-named.' Dad says, if Voldemort wanted you dead, you would be dead no matter what. But then Voldemort attacked the Potters when Mr. Potter was just a baby and somehow, Mister Potter stopped him and made him go away for 13 years, but he was orphaned in the process. Dad remembers Mr. Potter's parents; he was a first year when they were Head Boy and Head Girl. He said, their deaths were part of the reason that propelled him to be an Auror." Jim said looking at each of them carefully.

"When Mister Potter was 15, Voldemort came back and he was as deadly as ever. Dad says, he was so scared when we were born, because he didn't even know if all of us would make it out alive. He was fighting alongside Teddy's parents and they were his friends. And then, in 1998, there was a final battle of Hogwarts, where Teddy lost his parents and we lost our mother, but Mr. Potter was able to defeat and kill Voldemort in the end and that's why he is so famous. They say he was born to do it, Dad says, it's rubbish. But anyway, since Voldemort terrorized all of Wizarding Britain, his death was a moment of great relief and that is why Mr. Potter is seen as the saviour of the masses."

"Wow!" Arjun said as Adam whistled.

"So, how did he do it on his own?" Samantha asked Teddy and Jim. Jim shrugged.

"With the help of my family and friends and a bit of luck." A voice behind Teddy answered. The first years jumped when they realized that Harry Potter had walked up to their table to talk to them. Teddy turned, a grin plastered on his face.

"Dad!" He exclaimed, jumping up to give his dad a hug. Harry laughed as he hugged Teddy back. "Look at you!" He exclaimed. "You are taller now." Harry said, mussing Teddy's hair. Teddy swatted his hand away and muttered "Well, you are older now."

Harry grinned, "Meh! I can still beat you at physical strength."

"That's because you are a senior Auror and you work out like 6 times a week!" Teddy exclaimed.

Harry laughed, "Fine. Fine. Fight with me later. Now why don't you introduce me to your friends?" He said. "I see Adam is here. It's nice to see you again kid." Harry said extending his hand out to Adam.

"Its nice to meet you again, Mr. Potter, Sir." Adam replied speaking too fast.

Harry frowned. "Don't believe everything these two tell you about me." He said pointing at Jim and Teddy who smirked mischievously.

"Oh come on, Mr. Potter!" Jim said, "You know we never do anything."

"Apart from blowing up an entire room, the one time we left Teddy, your sister and you together to go attend the Christmas Ball at the Ministry." Harry added, shaking Jim's hand.

"It wasn't our fault." Sarah said, reaching over to shake Harry's hand. "You shouldn't have left three 5 year olds with cookies and a room full of combustible substances."

"Lesson well learnt, my dear." Harry replied with a grin.

Teddy introduced the rest of his friends before making his way to class, promising Harry to meet him at lunch and spending the free period after lunch with him. As Teddy walked out of the hall, he was grateful that his friends weren't treating him any differently. Yes, Trent and Adam had started hero- worshipping his dad, but they were awed by his personality now. However, he did notice that a lot of the student population was looking at him with a mix of envy, awe, jealousy and greed. He sighed inwardly; this year was going to be a long year.

* * *

"You know you could hex them, just don't get caught doing it." Ashley argued as they walked back to the Great Hall.

"Ashley, that is not the answer!" Teddy argued back. "If I keep hexing them every time they said something stupid, it would only lead to more fights."

"But Teddy, You can't let them walk away with what they said about your family." Ashley said indignantly.

"What they say doesn't matter." Teddy replied back. "Dad always says that people will say a lot of things to me; both good and bad because of who I am. I need to choose the people whose words matter to me."

"He is smart. Your dad I mean. And he is right. I wish my family was just as supportive."

"But I thought, your parents are great. You always say so."

"Yeah. My parents are great, they were here for the war, they know how it was. It's the rest of them. They are as bad as Avery and Bulstrode."

"Yeah, Well. I am sorry about that."

"Nah. Its okay, I choose not to listen to them." She said with a grin, "Hey, do you want to go to the library after lunch? Get an early start on the Charms essay?"

"I can't." Teddy said, his heart filling with disappointment. "I have to meet dad."

"Oh! Okay." Ashley said with a shrug, "Later then."

They walked in silence the rest of the way, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, they just didn't have anything to say to each other.

Teddy thought about his day till now; his morning had started pretty fine. Herbology with Gryffindor under the watchful eye of Professor Longbottom was always a fun experience but that fun experience was followed by double charms with Slytherin. Teddy didn't mind all the Slytherins, in fact he was friends with a few of them, Ashley being a great example. But Avery and Bulstrode were the biggest pricks he had ever met. Teddy spent the double period ignoring their jibes on how an orphan was taking care of another orphan. How the Weasleys had taken in Teddy because they pitied orphans, they even said that someday, a Weasley would marry off his daughter with Teddy because they believed in social service. It took all of Teddy's self control to not turn around and punch them in the face. Ashley however showed no such restraint. She sent a burning candle flying towards them, the two prats yelled and ducked out of the way.

She later, with tears in her eyes, explained to Professor Flitwick that she was practicing the levitation charm, as he had asked them to revise all the charms they had learnt so far and lost concentration and that she was so very sorry. Teddy had to do all he could to not snicker, he grinned at her as she sat back next to him. She gave him a warning look before going back to work, a sly smirk playing on her lips. Teddy's heart thudded in his chest as he watched Ashley practice. She was one of the prettiest girls he had ever met, not as beautiful as Vic but pretty in a different way. He peeked at her shyly as she walked beside him, humming a tune softly.

Harry Potter was waiting for Teddy outside the Great Hall, Teddy looked at him and smiled broadly forgetting about the horrible comments from Avery and Bulstrode and his disappointed over not being able to spend some time with Ashley.

"Hey, Big Guy." Harry said with a smile, "How was your day?"

"Hi, Dad. It was fine. How was your day?"

"Really Teddy? You want to know about my day?" Harry asked with a laugh, knowing that Teddy, though proud of Harry, was never really interested in the details of Harry's work life.

"Its called making polite conversation, Dad." Teddy replied cheekily, "Anyway, this is Ashley Flint, a friend of mine. Ashley this is my dad Harry Potter."

Ashley smiled shyly at Harry before shaking his hand. She excused herself immediately after that and walked into the hall for lunch.

"She is very pretty." Harry whispered in Teddy's ear as Teddy watched her walk away.

"Hmm?" Teddy hummed distractedly, tearing his eyes away from Ashley.

"I said, she is very pretty and she seems nice." Harry said with a broad teasing grin.

"Dad, it's nothing like that." Teddy said blushing.

"Like what?" Harry asked innocently.

"Dad!"

Harry laughed. "Okay, come on. Let's go down to the kitchens and get some lunch and we will talk all about a certain Ashley Flint."

"Dad!"

* * *

"So, Teddy, how do you like Hogwarts?" Harry asked as they settled down with their favourite desserts.

"It's great, Dad. It's everything all of you ever said it would be and more."

"So, no trouble?"

"None."

"Are you sure?"

"Dad."

"Look, I know okay. Professor Zabini wrote to us about Avery and Bulstrode and their constant remarks." Harry said. "Let me tell you, I am- No, all of us are proud of the way you are handling things." Harry said looking at Teddy with pride.

Teddy blushed. "Thanks dad."

"But if it gets too much and you need to vent, you can always talk to us, okay?"

"I know dad, and I will, I promise."

"I guess that should be good enough." Harry said, "Dear Merlin, Teddy! You are growing up too fast!"

Teddy laughed. "You are worrying too much. I am the same old Teddy."

Harry nodded. "Now, Teddy." He said seriously, "Do you think you are okay with this? The school now knows that you are my Godson and there would be a spotlight on you. The comments would either get really hurtful or too full of false admiration, both are just as bad. You think you would be okay?"

Teddy nodded. "I guess I will be. My friends don't treat me any differently. And those are the ones that matter, I really don't care about the rest."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, "You know you are taking this much better than I expected you to. I thought you would either resent me for putting you through so much of public scrutiny or you would be a pig headed prat about it and we will have to bring you down a peg or two."

Teddy laughed. "No, No. Save those lectures for James. The kid loves being the centre of attention."

"Don't remind me." Harry groaned. "I wish the rest were as easy to handle as you."

"Tough luck, Dad. Anyway, how are they doing? How is Al doing? Is he still mad at me?"

"James is being James, gets in trouble at school every other day. Thank God, we decided to not send him to a muggle school, he would have blown up the international statue of secrecy in ten seconds. Lily is fine, she now has a new obsession, a pink unicorn that she wants for her birthday and Al is fine. He misses you a lot. I guess, he misses talking to you all the time. But he is fine, he is not mad at you, in fact, he saved your letters in a box under his bed. He is a funny kid."

Teddy shook his head. "Al is not funny dad. He is just way too mature for his age. He is also really scared that we would leave him. I don't know why, but he is."

"He is your brother then. Didn't you cry up a storm in pre-school because Andromeda was late?"

"Thanks Dad." Teddy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Harry laughed. "Come on Bear, nearly all children suffer from separation anxiety the first time they are left alone. It is a big change, but I think he will be fine."

"Yeah. He will be."

They lapsed into silence, lost in their thoughts.

"Hey dad."

"Hmmm?"

"I am proud of being your Godson. You are a great dad."

Harry smiled warmly, "Thank you, Teddy. Now let's get you to bed, you need to sleep for a few hours before dinner and Astronomy."

Teddy nodded as he got up and followed Harry out; they walked in silence towards the Hufflepuff common room. Harry hugged Teddy one last time, promising to see him again on Monday.

"Oh! And Teddy?" Harry said, making Teddy turn around to face him. "These are for you." He said, opening his palm to tiny packages, which Harry then restored to their normal size. There were boxes of Teddy's favourite sweets both muggle and magical along with letters sent by the Weasleys, his gran, his mum even the Malfoys. Teddy grinned at Harry before giving him a quick hug and rushing into his common room.

 **AN: Yey, another chapter. Let me know what you think of it. Please do read and review and if you are new here and like this story don't forget to follow/favorite either it or me or both. I update every week.**

 **Waiting for your reviews.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Much love,**

 **The fishes**


	5. Chapter 5

Teddy was dreaming happily when a pillow hit him. He groaned, pulling the pillow to his side and snuggling into it.

"Oi!" Arjun said, poking him. "You need to get up, you lazy bum!"

"G'away!" Teddy said, swatting away his arm.

"Tough luck, mate!" Michael said, joining Arjun in poking Teddy.

"What do you want?" Teddy asked in irritation.

"We want you get up, get dressed and come up for breakfast." Arjun said solemnly.

"I don't want breakfast. It's the last day at school I will get some-" Teddy's eyes flew open.

"It's the last day of school!" He exclaimed, sitting up on his bed.

"Now, he remembers." Michael muttered.

"What time is it?" Teddy asked urgently, jumping off his bed.

"A little over 8:30." Trent said, stepping out of the bathroom.

"8:30!" Teddy yelped. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner? The train leaves at 11:00. I only have two hours and I haven't packed a thing." He whined running around his bed and throwing everything in his trunk.

"We have been trying to wake you up for ages!" Trent complained. "Now hurry up and change and come up for breakfast!"

 **"** Yeah! You guys go ahead. I will join you in a few."

When Teddy finally did join his friends for breakfast, the hall was almost empty and he was more than glad about it. Ever since the school had realized that Theodore Remus Lupin was the Godson of Harry Potter whispers along with awed looks, sympathetic looks and hateful glares followed him everywhere. Teddy honestly kind of felt sorry for his Godfather. If he had to endure so many rumours just because he was Harry Potter's godson, imagine what being Harry Potter himself would be like.

"What kept you?" Samantha asked anxiously, handing a napkin containing a stack of toast to him.

"I was-"

"-busy playing sleeping beauty and kept swatting the good Samaritans that tried to wake you up on time." Arjun said, cutting into Teddy's explanation.

Teddy rolled his eyes, "Come on, the coaches are about to leave."

They had almost reached the entrance.

"I don't even understand how they allow filth like you in Hogwarts."

Teddy turned to his right, "Did you hear that?" He asked the others, when they gave him confused looks, Teddy pointed in the direction of the voice.

They saw a two senior Ravenclaws and a third year Hufflepuff along with Avery and Bulstrode covering someone.

"I don't expect you to it would require some brains you know." Teddy heard Adam reply and grinned. Adam had started standing up to bullies ever since he entered Hogwarts. "Now leave her alone."

Without thinking about it Teddy started walking towards them.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked.

"Its Adam. We have to help him out."

"Yes. Okay. But how? We are bunch of first years. Let's go find a professor."

Teddy, Arjun and Trent exchanged looks at the same time, with broad grins.

"You are brilliant, Sarah." Teddy said, concentrating hard on Professor Boot's appearance.

A few seconds later he looked down at his awestruck friends.

"Well, is it good enough?" He asked anxiously.

"That never stops to amaze me." Sarah breathed.

"Ruddy brilliant!" Michael said in agreement.

"So, I look fine?"

"You look- that was awesome!" Samantha exclaimed.

"You guys are useless." Teddy grumbled, walking towards Adam.

"Is there a problem?" He asked imitating Professor Boot's no nonsense tone perfectly.

The five bullies jumped.

"Err… No problem at all Professor." Matthew Rosier, fifth year Ravenclaw prefect said smoothly.

Teddy cocked an eyebrow.

"We were just exchanging the season's greetings." Terence Rowle, the third year Hufflepuff said.

"I believe you could do as much on the train. The carriages are about to leave. I suggest all of you present yourself in the Entrance Hall."

The seven started scuttling away immediately, the bullies shooting threatening glares at the two muggleborns.

"Mr. Callaghan, Miss. Clarke." Teddy called, "I would like a word with you, if you please."

Adam and Samantha Clarke, a first year muggleborn Slytherin held back. Teddy watched the back of Avery vanish round the corner before turning to his friends.

"How was it?" He asked excitedly.

"How was what, Professor?" Samantha asked looking confused.

"Teddy?" Adam asked alarmed.

"Of course!" Teddy said changing back his appearance. Samantha jumped as Teddy changed his appearance.

"How did you do that?" She asked, her voice shrilly.

"I am a Metamorphmagus. I thought you knew that."

"I did but I thought that would mean you could change your hair colour or eye colour. That! That was bloody brilliant!" She exclaimed, hi-fiving Teddy.

"Yeah mate. Pretty amazing. Did you see Avery, he almost wet his pants." Adam said laughing.

"That was a pretty good control on your skills, Mr. Lupin."

The three laughing children jumped, as Professor McGonagall materialized behind them.

She surveyed them like a hawk.

"Professor-" Teddy started.

"Yes?"

"They were- they were-"

"They were bullying Mr. Callaghan and Miss. Clarke here and you found a creative solution to diffuse the situation, didn't you?"

Teddy gulped, giving a slight nod.

Professor McGonagall fought her smile. "Well, I can't expect anything less from Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks' son, can I? I should thank Merlin that you are not as bad as your father and his friends."

"Err…"

"The three of you should get going; I believe your friends are waiting for you by the carriages. And Mr. Lupin, next time you try diffusing such a situation, please use my form, it would be more convincing." Professor McGonagall added with a wink before walking away from the three stunned students.

* * *

"She said what?" George Weasley asked flabbergasted, as they sat together for dinner at the Potter Manor.

"I swear, she said I could morph into her to scare those pureblood idiots away." Teddy said earnestly, taking a bite of his chicken.

"Are you quite sure that it was Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.

"Dad!"

"Well, she is crazier than Dumbledore." Ron said turning to Harry as Hermione swatted his arm.

"Ow! Hermione! But think about it. I think the job of the headmaster is jinxed, people go floozy when they join the office." Ron said sagely.

The entire table burst out laughing.

"I cannot imagine McGonagall giving pranking permission to any student." Bill said.

"She said I am better than Moony Da and his friends. In fact, considering who my parents were, I am quite well behaved." Teddy said proudly.

"This is outrageous!" George exclaimed, looking offended. "Have you been lying to me in your letters Teddy?"

"No!"

"Then how can you be well behaved?"

"I don't get caught. I have wolf senses and mostly, I just morph into a Professor when someone comes closer."

"And the only time she has to find out is when you are doing a supposed good deed?"

Teddy grinned.

"Why are the fates so unfair? She gave us so much grief for pranking people." George grumbled.

"Eh! Everyone knows, I am universally loved."

"He has inherited James' pig headedness it seems." Andromeda called from the other end of the table.

"Gran!"

"I love you too Teddy, now finish your vegetables."

As Teddy lay in bed, he felt utterly exhausted. The Weasleys would be back in two days to stay for the three days ending at the ball, before all of them would shift to the Burrow on Christmas morning. Teddy closed his eyes, thinking about how Draco and Astoria would react to his story.

James crept into Teddy's room and climbed on his bed with Albus at his heels. James was about to poke Teddy and Albus tugged at his sleeve. "I think he is asleep." He whispered urgently.

"He is not." James countered, poking Teddy's arm.

"Eyes closed. Mum says we sleep when we close our eyes and lie down. Let's go. I don't want him to get mad and leave us again." Albus said fearfully tugging at James' arm as he continued to poke Teddy.

"James. Stop doing that." Teddy said opening his eyes, James gave a surprised shout and tumbled back on the bed. Albus giggled. "And Al," Teddy said pulling the little boy closer. "I go to Hogwarts to learn magic. You will go to Hogwarts too. I am not mad at you."

"Promise?" Albus asked.

"Yes. Why would you think that?" Teddy asked, as James jumped up on the bed and flung himself on Teddy's back with a war cry.

"I love you Teddy." Albus said his green eyes full of sincerity.

"I love you too, Alby." Teddy said _("Fall you Dragon!" James cried in the background, poking Teddy's back.)_

Teddy pulled James and pinned him on the bed. "Rawr! The Dragon has got you and now he is going to eat you."

"No!" James giggled. "Albus help me!"

"No. Albus loves me more." Teddy said laughing, "He will help me."

Albus giggled and poked Teddy. "Oh! You want to side with little Jamie? Come here, I am going to eat both of you." Teddy said grabbing Albus too.

The two boys squealed with delight as Teddy tickled them.

"What the hell is happening here?" Harry asked as he entered the room covered in feathers and three children busy in a pillow fight.

"We are having a pillow fight." James giggled, "Alby and me against Teddy."

"Hey! That's not fair." Harry said, grabbing a nearby pillow, "Teddy are you ready to take these monkeys down?"

"Dad, I am on your team. Let's take James down." Albus said, giving Harry a winning smile.

"Alby!" James exclaimed, but Albus whacked him with a pillow saying, "Bad boy James. Teddy is our big brother. You shouldn't beat him up."

Within ten minutes the two children flopped down on Teddy's bed and were out cold.

"They really missed you." Harry said softly mussing Teddy's hair, coming to stand next to Teddy as he rearranged the pillows.

"I know. I missed them too. Did you see Albus switch sides?" Teddy asked with a grin.

Harry laughed, "Yeah. He is in the phase where he hates losing. The other day he upset the chess board at Dudley's place because Megan was beating him at chess."

"He thought I was mad at him." Teddy said looking thoughtfully at Albus.

"Yes. He is a very different child. I don't know how to handle him." Harry said honestly.

"Just be yourself. You are doing a great job as it is. Don't worry yourself too much."

"And since when have you become such an expert at parenting?" Harry asked amused.

"Eh! I have my moments." Teddy said with a laugh.

Harry pulled him in a hug, "Go get some sleep. They will wake up early and won't let you sleep after that. It's good to have you back bear."

"It's good to be home, Dad." Teddy said hugging him back.

"Hey, Harry. James and Albus- Oh! There they are!" Ginny said entering Teddy's room.

"Hey Mum, I guess they snuck into my room after you put them to bed."

"Yeah and I don't blame them. I used to do that too with Bill and Charlie and the twins. Percy didn't like being disturbed. Now, come on get some sleep. They would wake you up, the moment they open their eyes."

"Yeah. Dad said as much. Goodnight mum. Goodnight Dad." Teddy said, climbing into his bed. Teddy closed his eyes as the door closed behind Harry.

"I love you my baby boy. I am so glad you are home." Ginny said kissing his forehead.

By the time Andromeda Tonks came to Teddy's room, he was fast asleep with Albus' foot in his face and James' arm on his stomach. She watched the three sleeping boys. She sighed in relief, Nymphadora and Remus made the right choice with Harry. He gave Teddy and by extension her, a family, they were not alone anymore.

 **AN: Hello! My job is catching up with me hence the tardiness in updating my chapters. But fear not my good fellows! I will be updating some more chapters during the weekend. Hopefully. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you like it, you know what to do, leave Reviews. If you are new here don't forget to follow/favourite either me or the story or both. And please do leave reviews, it helps me develop a better story.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Much love,**

 **The fishes.**


	6. Chapter 6

Teddy was returning from the library, his head still stuck at home and the fun he had at Christmas, so it was but obvious that he wasn't particularly paying attention to where he was going. He bumped into someone and stumbled slightly.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"That's okay, Lupin." Dean Clarke said, "I was just looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Teddy asked bewildered, why was a fifth year looking for him?

"Yes." Dean replied, "You are going back to the common room, right?"

Teddy nodded.

"Good," Dean said, "I will come with you then."

Teddy shrugged and started walking.

"Aren't you curious?" Dean asked, walking lazily next to him.

"Curious about what?" Teddy asked.

"About why I was looking for you?"

Teddy shrugged, "I figured you would tell me soon enough."

Dean laughed. "So, Lupin, what do you know about the Dumbledore's Army?"

Teddy grinned, "It was started by some students in 1995, and it was the only group training in DADA that year. It started out as a form of protest, but during the last year of the war, it became a symbol of resistance amongst the students. It dissolved after the war and once every DA member graduated from Hogwarts."

Dean smiled, "You were right about everything, except the last bit. The DA never disbanded."

"Well, it could be argued that they never officially disbanded." Teddy conceded.

Dean gave him a fond look, almost indulgent.

"What?" Teddy asked confusedly, "You think the DA still exists?"

Dean grinned, "Took you long enough."

"But that's not possible!"

"Why not?" Dean asked, stopping at an alcove and sitting down, indicating Teddy to sit next to him. He waved his wand once and Teddy felt a ripple pass through him.

"Because I know most of the DA members and they are all adults," Teddy said, taking his seat.

"Yes, members of the original DA have graduated, but the DA still exists," Dean replied.

"And what do they do?" Teddy asked confused. "We have a DADA teacher who was a member of the original DA. Plus there are those special classes. Why would you need a DA then?"

"The name continues but the nature of the DA has changed." Dean replied, "It's not just a primarily defence group."

"Err…"

Dean smiled at Teddy, patting his back.

"A few years ago, the youngest member of the original DA, Nigel Grey, realized that he would be the end of an era and a dark memory," Dean explained. "People his age as well as those a couple of years younger than him remembered how dark their early years at Hogwarts were. So, Nigel reached out to his classmates, Hogwarts in those days was still recovering from the battle."

"These students remembered the obscure spells used on them. Spells that were neither dark nor white, neutral spells, powerful spells, the intent of their use defined their purpose. Banned spells. Nigel, now a wise seventeen-year-old Ravenclaw realized that some students, for the sake of it should always have knowledge of such obscure branches of magic. After all, knowledge is not good or bad, its application is, right?"

Teddy nodded, he had seen enough of the grey shades in human beings to know that spells could be grey too. Dean grinned.

"Nigel spent six months observing the people around him. He chose a handful of people from his year and a year below him and brought them together to form the new DA. The rules were simple, Nigel knew they would be dabbling in dubious magic. An open mind, level-headedness, as well as a sense of responsibility, were paramount qualities for a member. So, a system of invitation-only emerged. Initially, only a few people of whom they were sure of were invited, then these people invited the others who they thought were equally worthy and thus, the entire chain continued and continues to this day."

"Now Teddy, you may be wondering why I am telling you all of this. Well, we have observed you for the past six months and we believe that you will be a great representative for the Hufflepuff House."

Teddy looked at Dean and frowned as if he was concentrating on something hard.

"You can ask me anything, Lupin." Dean prompted.

"I am flattered, really." Teddy started earnestly, "But I was just wondering if you have-if you have invited me because I am related to Harry Potter."

Dean beamed at him. "The fact that you are asking that question makes me certain that we have picked the right kid." He replied, "No, Teddy. Nigel took a leaf out of Hermione Granger's book and created binding contracts, the first is about secrecy, no one but the members and the invitees know about the DA and where they meet, so we cannot go harp about it. The second being no favouritism, we cannot pick people we like even if we wanted to. All of us have to agree on a name. That's how it works."

"Why me?" Teddy asked weakly, half glad that they wanted him because of his own qualities.

"Why not?" Dean asked, "You are fair, you avoid violence and unnecessary confrontation if it could be avoided and yet know when to stand up for yourself, everyone knows of your friendship with Ashley Flint or of your relationship with Draco Malfoy. Ashley's father took the mark, so did Draco Malfoy and yet I have heard you speak affectionately of them. Even when it was his aunt who killed your mother, it tells us that you don't judge people by their names or mistakes, you judge them by their actions. You could have been a pigheaded prat about being brought by up Harry and Ginny Potter and yet you keep you are humble. You pull pranks but harm no one. So tell me Teddy Lupin, why not you?"

Teddy looked at Dean awed, "You-you-noticed all of this?" He stammered.

"It's our job to find the right candidate, isn't it?"

"I- thank you!" Teddy said gratefully, "Sometimes, it gets confusing to know if people like me for me or because of my Godfather. He is a great person, but his fame is an inconvenience."

Dean smiled at him. "No, we definitely want you for the potential you promise." He grinned mischievously, "Also I am very sure, a couple of people want to study you."

Teddy laughed, "Honestly, I would like people to explain metamorphing to me. I can do it, but I don't know what else I can use it for."

"Don't worry, we will change that."

"Great, so when do I join you?" Teddy asked.

"Not so fast," Dean said with a small chuckle. "I have a task for you. If you complete it in the time given to you, you will be invited for the meeting."

"What is the task?" Teddy asked.

"Unforgivable Curses." Dean replied, "Every bit of knowledge available, including the proper way to administer them and how much damage can they cause."

Teddy's nose flared.

"No." He said, letting out a deep breath to reign in his temper.

"No?" Dean asked, a challenge in his tone.

"No," Teddy replied with determination.

"Are you sure?"

Teddy gave him a look of badly restrained anger. "Unforgivable curses are nothing to joke about." Teddy said angrily, "They have an effect on people, which can continue for years. Even if one was to study them for the sake of knowledge, even that kind of knowledge in the first place is dangerous. What if someone feels like experimenting? Those curses are not something people below age should know about. I won't do it. If this is how I join the DA, then I am out." Teddy sprang to his feet and strode forward. He had barely taken a few steps when an invisible barrier pushed him back.

"What are you playing at?" Teddy asked Dean angrily. "Let me out."

"I can't." Dean said simply, "Not without erasing your memory of this discussion first."

Teddy glared at him, chin jutting out stubbornly. "Fine. Do it then." He replied acidly.

Dean tilted his head to look at Teddy curiously.

"That's enough." A new deep voice said materialising between Teddy and Dean, making Teddy jump in surprise.

Eijaaz Shafiq, Headboy, Slytherin stood facing Dean, his back to Teddy.

"You went too far with the memory charm." He rumbled in his deep voice, reprimanding Dean.

"Couldn't think of anything better, sorry," Dean said lightly, not sounding sincerely apologetic at all.

"Really, Clarke." Shafiq said shaking his head, "The kid's been through enough in his life, without you being a disrespectful, insensitive prat."

"I am still here," Teddy grumbled.

Eijaaz turned to look at Teddy, his dark eyes crinkled with warmth and laughter.

"Sorry, there Lupin." He said offering his hand, "This was just a test to see how well you understood the weight of the knowledge of obscure spells. Clarke could have taken a different path, but what's done cannot be undone. Are you still mad at him?"

"Yes," Teddy growled, concentrating really hard in not letting his features change.

"Well, please accept our apologies." Shafiq offered, "I am honoured to invite you to the Dumbledore's Army. We meet every Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for practice. The common room is open to all members at all times, so you can visit whenever you want, in case you wish to escape others or just read a really good book. Our next meeting is next Tuesday before you come for it, you need to sign this parchment." He waved a piece of parchment in front of Teddy, "You are too annoyed right now, so I will leave the parchment here, if you accept, just sign your name on it. Once you sign your name, the parchment will give you the location of the DA common room. Am I clear?"

Teddy nodded, he was still breathing hard, he hadn't thought that a threat of mind invasion would get him so panicked. Shafiq grinned at him as he handed him the piece of parchment.

"You are a good kid, Lupin." Shafiq said, "Just think it over okay?"

Teddy nodded, feeling better. Shafiq left and Teddy was left with Dean Clarke, who grinned at him, making Teddy give him a glare.

"Come on, kid!" Dean said, "I wasn't actually going to do it. I am sorry if that scared you, I shouldn't have let my mouth run with me."

Teddy nodded, turning to go back to his dormitory. He really wanted to talk to someone about it, but he also knew that the only people he could speak with were Dean and Shafiq.

"Hey, Dean." Teddy said, not bothering to turn back, "Is there anyone else in the DA I could talk to?"

Dean clapped him on the back, "I am sorry Lupin, I really am. I wish you could just come to me, but if you still need to talk to someone, you can talk to Janet Stone, she is a seventh year DA member from our house. You can also speak to Hestia Vane, she is a seventh year DA member too, she is also a prefect, so maybe approaching her would be easier for you."

Teddy nodded, "Thank you. And don't beat yourself up, I didn't realise I would have such a strong reaction to the threat of memory tampering. I just want some more perspective before I accept."

"That's fair," Dean said, nodding his consent. "Take your time. There is no need to hurry."

"Thanks. I will see you later, I guess." Teddy said as they reached the common room entrance. Dean nodded, as he watched Teddy walk into the common room.

* * *

Teddy hesitantly approached the group of senior girls in the common room. The girls all surveyed him curiously as he approached them.

"Hestia?" He asked hesitantly, "Can I speak with you for a minute?"

The girls all rounded to stare at their friend, whose expression was carefully blank as she nodded and got up from her seat.

"It's too noisy here." Hestia said, "Come on, let's go for a walk."

Teddy trailed behind Hestia, who led him to the kitchens. They sat at a table which was directly below the Gryffindor table. Teddy watched fascinated as Hestia waved her wand, he felt a ripple cross through him again.

"What is this spell?" He wondered aloud, "Clarke did the same thing today."

"It's a grey spell, it is quite ingenious too." Hestia replied with a smile, "If someone passes next to us, they will see us talking, but unlike the _Muffliato_ or the silencing charm which makes them unable to hear something and thus suspicious, they will hear exactly what they want to hear or whatever their conscious mind or imagination is telling them."

Teddy knit his eyebrows trying to understand the concept of the spell. Hestia grinned at him.

"Do you know Romeo and Juliet?" She asked.

Teddy nodded.

"So, say, Romeo cast this spell, now they may be speaking of love to one another but if a passerby crosses, he would see two people from warring families talk to each other and in his mind he already has the perception that they must be insulting or threatening each other, so when he crosses them he would hear them insult or threaten each other." Hestia explained, "It is a dangerous spell, as it functions on perception, and one wrong gossip along with the memory can wreak havoc."

Teddy nodded.

"I hear you received your invitation to the DA, congratulations."

Teddy nodded and then frowned, "I am not sure. I don't understand why we are doing this. Voldemort is not coming back."

Hestia nodded, "True, Voldemort is not coming back, but is there a guarantee that another evil wizard will not rise? Voldemort rose, within a couple of decades since the fall of Grindelwald, didn't he?"

Teddy nodded.

"During both the wars, people lost lives because they didn't know the nature of different kinds of magic. Wands are a mode channelizing magic, but there are other ways to do so too. The idea is to always have a band of people who know enough defensive magic to fend off any attacks, both inside Hogwarts and in the real world. We don't need this, but if we forget what the war was like, we are not really learning a lesson, are we?"

Teddy shook his head slowly. "Do you think I can do this?"

Hestia looked at him curiously, "I don't know you well enough to answer that question but I do know that Eijaaz is really impressed with you, and it's not easy to be able to impress him in one go. So, I guess you are up for the task and this self-doubt is holding you back."

"Do you think I should join it?"

"That is your decision, Teddy. I can't decide for you."

"Are you inviting someone else from my year?"

Hestia gave him a long look, "We have an open invitation policy for the first three years. Sometimes, you get invited in your first year, sometimes we like to observe some people a little more before inviting them. The third year is where we draw the line."

"I won't get a straight answer from you, will I?"

Hestia just grinned at him good-naturedly.

"Fine." Teddy pouted, "I have a last question."

"Sure."

"May I talk about this with an adult in my life before making the decision?"

"I don't know." Hestia replied honestly, "I don't think any of us really thought about discussing it with someone. For us, it was all part of a big adventure. Our parents were not DA members and, whatever, they remembered of the war, well, for us, all of it sounds like a great big adventure. But you, Teddy, you have a family of people who were in the middle of it, so, I guess you have a better picture of how awful it was."

Teddy nodded, as Hestia looked at him briefly.

"I don't know what to tell you." She continued, "Maybe you should talk to someone, but if they complain to the school and ask for the DA to be shut down, we will deny all association. Even claim that it was a prank, and your invitation would be revoked immediately. Not to mention, you would look like a fool. So, think it through. You have to sign it by May so that you could attend a couple of sessions with all of us as members. But Teddy, please be careful of your choices, okay?"

Teddy nodded. He had a lot to think through before he jumped ship. He knew his birth parents, his Godparents, George, Ron, pretty much everyone he knew would immediately join. Especially, Hermione, it would be absolutely thrilling to know so much. A part of him wanted to join up immediately, another part of him really wanted to speak with someone with a balanced approach. Currently, he could think of three people whom he trusted enough to treat him like an independent person, Uncle Bill, Uncle Draco and his Godfather. He sighed, he will be seeing Bill and Harry in a couple of weeks, so he could talk to them then. He would just have to write to Draco for help. He won't come to a decision without asking someone else for their opinion.

 **AN: So, here is another chapter and I really figured the DA should just go on. Let me know what you think! Happy Reading!**


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